The Things We Do For Love
by redcandle
Summary: Brienne must choose between her honor and Jaime's life.


Disclaimer: All recognizable characters and elements from A Song of Ice and Fire belong to George R.R. Martin. No copyright infringement is intended.

- Brienne -

"Now you will kill Jaime Lannister."

Brienne didn't need the young northman's translation to understand the woman now known as Lady Stoneheart. Her own heart sank like a stone. "But I fulfilled Jaime's oath to you! You have Sansa."

"You swore," Stoneheart hissed.

It was true Brienne had sworn - with herself and her companions dangling from nooses - that she would kill Jaime if they spared them. She'd sworn the oath, but she'd hoped that whatever was left of Catelyn Stark inside Stoneheart would not hold her to it if she reunited her with her daughter Sansa.

"She loves him," Sansa said.

"Aye, we know she's the Kingslayer's whore," said the one-eyed outlaw.

"You'll kill him or you'll hang," growled the one who'd stolen the Hound's helm.

When Lady Stoneheart spoke next Brienne knew it was for Sansa's benefit, that she'd made up her mind about Brienne and would not change it.

"She reminds you that Jaime Lannister also swore he would not take up arms against Tully or Stark, and he broke that oath," said the northman Harwin.

"I was there," said the singer Tom Sevenstrings. "He threatened to send Edmure Tully's babe over the walls of Riverrun in a trebuchet unless Edmure yielded the castle to him."

Brienne knew what the threat meant. Jaime had admitted to flinging Catelyn Stark's young son Bran from a tower window after the boy had seen him in bed with his sister the queen. Stoneheart would not doubt that Jaime would have kept his threat if Edmure hadn't surrendered the castle, but Jaime had changed and Brienne could not believe he would really have done it.

"Lord Edmure is a prisoner at Casterly Rock and good loyal people who've served House Tully all their lives have been turned out destitute. Riverrun is in the hands of Lannisters and Freys," Harwin said. Tom played a mournful tune on his harp.

Brienne knew she was lost, but she tried to save the boy Podrick Payne and the knight Hyle Hunt, who'd been held hostage by the Brotherhood Without Banners all this time. "I will fulfill the oath, but release Pod and Ser Hyle. I've proven my loyalty; you don't need them to ensure it anymore."

"Release the knight," Lady Stoneheart croaked.

Several members of the outlaw band brought forward Hyle Hunt. He was as well as Brienne could expect. He was very thin, but she didn't think they'd intentionally starved him. Food was scarce for everyone in the riverlands and especially so for hunted outlaws. "It took you long enough, woman," he said when he saw Brienne.

"She's not done the deed yet," the one-eyed outlaw said. "But our generous spirits move us to letting you go anyway."

"Please, Mother," Sansa Stark said. "Don't make Brienne do it. Send someone else to kill the Kingslayer."

Brienne knew she was Stoneheart's best chance to see Jaime dead. Jaime trusted her so she could approach him without suspicion, while any man the outlaws sent would likely not make it pass his guards. Lady Stoneheart was not willing to give up her best chance at revenge merely because it would break Brienne's heart. She touched the sword that had been taken from Brienne on her arrival and began to speak.

Harwin translated for Sansa, who could not yet understand the tortured sounds that came from her mother's deeply cut throat. "She says the Lannisters melted your father's sword to make this for the Kingslayer, but the gods saw fit to take his sword hand before he could wield it. She says Brienne calls it Oathkeeper and all she asks is that Brienne honors the oaths she made to her and the name she gave your father's steel."

That had been almost a moon ago and Brienne still did not know what she was going to do. She didn't think she could bear to kill Jaime. She'd considered simply going home to Tarth and living with her loss of honor, but then Pod might die because of her. She'd even thought of taking her own life, but that was the coward's way and she was not so hopeless yet.

She found King's Landing quite different than she'd left it. When she'd set off to redeem Jaime's honor the city had been freshly repaired and its citizens had been full of hope that the great Lannister-Tyrell alliance would bring lasting peace. Now it showed signs of renewed fighting. Buildings were scorched and soldiers in Lannister crimson and Tyrell green and gold patrolled the streets. Residents walked hurriedly, with their heads down, as if fearful of imminent violence. Brienne had heard of clashes between the Iron Throne and the newly militant Faith, but she hadn't known things were this bad.

The guards at the Red Keep would not permit her entry until they sent a man to Ser Jaime to verify that she was who she said she was. He came himself to tell the men to let her in, which gave Brienne a warm feeling despite the dread knotting her stomach.

"You've returned; my honor must be restored." Jaime gave her one of those mocking smiles she'd once hated. She hadn't realized how much she'd grown to love them until this moment.

"May we speak privately?"

"Of course, if the lady commands it." He sketched a bow and offered her his arm. Brienne ignored it and walked ahead. Jaime quickly fell into step beside her and she fell back to allow him to lead the way.

He took her to White Sword Tower. Even now Brienne was filled with reverence for the place. Hundreds of the greatest knights had dwelled in this building over centuries. They'd lived and died with honor in service to their kings. Though there had been a few exceptions, men who had dishonored themselves and their kings - the most notorious of them being the man beside her. He'd killed the first king he'd sworn to serve and cuckolded the second. And Brienne was willing to sacrifice her own honor for him.

She could kill him now and get away before anyone knew he was dead. She could retrieve Pod from the Brotherhood Without Banners and then - nothing. She would be nothing if she killed Jaime. She would not be able to live with herself. So she would sacrifice honor for love, as Jaime had done.

He touched her cheek. "What happened?"

The foul creature called Biter had bitten off a portion of her cheek. He'd eaten her flesh and left her scarred and uglier than before. Brienne had completely forgotten about it, so consumed had she been by the dilemma of whether to preserve her honor or Jaime's life. "Biter."

Biter had been among the Bloody Mummers who had captured them on their way from Riverrun to King's Landing. Brienne knew Jaime would never forget them; the Bloody Mummers had cut off his right hand. He grimaced now as he examined the scar Biter had left her. "I'm sorry, Brienne," he said.

She was accustomed to Jaime making jests. This seriousness almost made her cry. "I found Sansa Stark," she told him. That had been the task he'd set her. He'd given her Oathkeeper and told her to protect Sansa Stark for the sake of the oath he'd sworn Catelyn Stark in exchange for his freedom.

"You've made sure she's safe?"

"The rumors that Lord Beric could not be killed were true. He found Lady Catelyn's body in the river after the Red Wedding and passed his magic to her. She is no longer dead."

"So she's the woman outlaw who's been hanging Freys."

"Yes. I found Sansa in the Vale with Lord Baelish and escorted her to her mother."

"You kept my oath for me." His smile was half mocking, half something else. "Why did you come? I thought you'd sworn your service to Lady Catelyn."

Brienne searched for a lie and was disturbed by how readily one came. "It's the Red God's power that revived Lady Catelyn. Her people worship Him, same as Stannis." Stannis Baratheon had used a red priestess's sorcery to kill his brother Renly, whom Brienne had loved. More importantly, she'd been one of his Rainbow Guard, sworn to protect him. However she had not been able to protect him from shadows and Renly had died in her arms.

"We have our own sorcery and dead men walking here, I'm afraid."

"It's true then?"

Jaime sighed and ran his hand through his hair. He'd let it grow since she'd last seen him, and he'd shaved off his beard too. Without the beard, the fine lines around his eyes were more apparent, but he was still the most handsome man she'd ever seen. "Gods save us all, it's true," he said. "Cersei gave the Mountain to Qyburn and Qyburn worked some sorcery. The Mountain is alive - in a manner of speaking - and worse than before. The High Septon didn't like having a dead man storm his sept to rescue Cersei, and his sparrows have been making his displeasure known."

Brienne unbuckled her sword belt and looked at Oathkeeper in its scabbard. It was a beautiful sword and it did its job flawlessly, the Valyrian steel sharp enough and strong enough to cut through and withstand anything. But its name and the reason it had been given to her only served to torment her now. She held it out to Jaime.

He didn't take it. Instead he waved his golden hand at her. "This can't hold a sword."

"You might learn to wield a sword with your left hand eventually."

He laughed bitterly and waved his one remaining flesh-and-blood hand. "Ser Ilyn beats me senseless every night. I might be able to hold my own against a seven year old - if the child didn't fight too hard. Keep the sword, Brienne." He smiled his mocking smile. "After all, you're the guardian of my honor."

Brienne buckled the sword around her hips, the weight feeling far heavier than it should. Sansa had promised to let no harm come to Pod; Brienne would have to trust in her. Brienne's fate was tied to Jaime's. "Then it is only right I stay here and serve you."

"I can use all the help I can get. My sister, our great Queen, has lost her mind."

- Jaime -

"I've found the thing you asked me to find you, my lord," Qyburn said.

The man made Jaime's skin crawl. He had healed the infection after Jaime's maiming and probably saved his life, but he had also created an abomination and fed Cersei's paranoia, causing a mess Jaime had spent half a year trying to clean up. He was very useful, though, and Jaime was glad he hadn't lopped his head off. There was no one else so well-suited to helping him do what he must do now. "Be ready outside Tommen's chambers. Make sure no one sees you. I'll join you in an hour."

After dismissing Qyburn, Jaime sent a page to fetch Brienne. He stared at the cover of the White Book while he waited for her. The things he'd said to Catelyn Stark in Riverrun's dungeon were still true. Duty required dishonor sometimes and sometimes you had to break one oath to fulfill another. Brienne wouldn't understand that, though, she thought Jaime was a different man now. For a while he'd thought he could be a different man too.

But he had to save Tommen and there was no honorable way to do that. They had no hope against Daenerys Targaryen and her dragons; her ancestor Aegon had roasted the combined armies of the Reach and the Rock, and she would do the same to this Lannister-Tyrell alliance. Even surrender would not guarantee Tommen's safety. Tywin Lannister had ordered the murders of Rhaegar's infant son and toddler daughter to prevent future challenges to Robert's throne; Daenerys might have Tommen killed for the same reason. There was only one way Jaime could see to be sure Tommen would be safe.

"The builders are almost finished with the catapults, and Loras and Margaery tell me the Redwynne fleet is on its way," Brienne said when she arrived. She hesitated a moment before confessing, "But, Jaime, I don't think it will be enough, not if Daenerys truly has dragons."

"Dragons, an army of Unsullied, the Golden Company, and many more. All the reports say so."

"It is hopeless then."

"Aegon conquered Westeros with far less. Daenerys is certain to succeed."

"Will you surrender?"

"Cersei will not surrender. I don't think it would change our fates anyway. I slew Aerys and my lord father laid the bodies of Rhaegar's children at Robert's feet." He and Cersei were going to die, Jaime accepted that. But he was going to die fighting like a man, not bound and in captivity like an animal to the slaughter.

Brienne gently squeezed his hand. Jaime thought it was strange that her hands were as big and callused as his own and still more tender than Cersei's had ever been. "I will defend Tommen to my last breath," she said.

"I know you will," Jaime replied. "That's why I'm entrusting him to you. I want you to take him away. Give him a new name and a new life. Tommen Baratheon will be dead to Daenerys and her supporters."

"Won't they search for him?"

"Not after they find his dead body here."

"How..." She looked at him with puzzlement and a hint of suspicion. "You'll buy the body of a deceased child and dress him in Tommen's clothes?"

It would be easy to tell her yes and send her on her way. It was what Jaime had meant to do. But now he found he didn't want to lie to her. She deserved better from him. "Not quite. There are no recently deceased boys Tommen's age who look enough like him. Qyburn found me a living one. His own parents sold him and didn't ask what would become of him."

He'd expected anger but he got sorrow instead. Brienne looked at him with tears in her big, blue eyes and said simply, "No, Jaime."

"What else am I to do? The Lord Commander of the Kingsguard must protect the king." He'd been far away from them and unable to do anything when Joffrey was poisoned at his wedding feast and Myrcella was murdered by a Dornishman. Tommen was his last chance to be a good Kingsguard knight and his last chance to be a good father.

"A knight must protect the innocent. You cannot murder an innocent child, Jaime!"

"There must be a body," Jaime said. "As long as the conquerors believe Tommen is alive, they'll try to kill him. Robert sent assassins after Viserys and Daenerys for years, up to the day he died."

"You must find another way. You can't do this."

"There is no other way."

Brienne stood and drew Oathkeeper. She laid the point of the sword against his chest. "I won't let you do it."

"Are you going to kill me, Brienne?"

"Catelyn Stark sent me to kill you."

She'd been by his side for months, she could have killed him at any time. "Why did you wait so long?"

"I wasn't going to kill you. I swore her an oath, but I broke it for you."

Honor meant everything to the Maid of Tarth. Jaime didn't understand at first why she would sacrifice her precious honor for him. Then he recognized the look on her face. She loved him. "It's not so simple anymore, is it?"

"This is simple, Jaime. You cannot kill that poor child." She pressed harder and Jaime knew the sword would skewer his heart with just a little more pressure. "Swear to me you won't do it, or I'll kill you right now."

"Maybe you should kill me. You'll keep your oath and you'll ensure I don't kill any innocents. It's the best thing you can do."

She sheathed Oathkeeper. "You'll not get off that easy." She punched him. "I thought better of you."

Jaime touched his bleeding lip. "You have such a delicate touch, sweet maiden."

"I'll take the boy with me when I leave with Tommen."

"I don't want to kill him, Brienne," Jaime said quietly. "But I thought it was best for Tommen."

She sat beside him. "Why is it you always end up facing such dilemmas?"

Jaime had no answer for her, at least not any she wanted to hear right now. "Your faith in me is misplaced, but I appreciate it all the same." He kissed her a long, sweet kiss. "Good bye, Brienne."

"Good bye, Jaime."


End file.
